How do you rate Morrissey's Autobiography ?

How do you rate Morrissey's Autobiography ?


  • Total voters
    31
Dude, how about easing off the polls for just a day or two?
It's getting exhausting.
Thanks.
 
I'm going with 10. It stars off like a piece of poetry, moves into a good pop music autobiography, then it's a hate fest and then a tour journal. It's a riveting read that's well written but it's bereft of cohesion. It's one of a kind.
 
Autobiography is as thrilling, fascinating, frustrating, baffling, unconventional and idiosyncratic as its author. It's unlike any other celebrity memoir you're likely to encounter. Sure, naming and shaming and endless self-justification are staples of the genre, but who else but Morrissey would publish an autobiography where a simple anecdote of childhood would inexplicably develop into a queer theory analysis of Lost in Space? The book is full of bizarre yet entertaining non-sequiturs like that. It's as much a collection of pop-culture and social criticism as it is a memoir. I suppose it must be frustrating and disappointing for readers who were expecting a more straightforward retelling of his life, or for casual fans who picked up the book out of curiosity. But for me, reading this book was like having unfiltered, unmitigated access to Morrissey's mind and it was utterly riveting to see it spill out on page after page.

For all of its faults (e.g. needlessly opaque and prolix syntax, frequent and jarring shifts in tense, the absurd self-aggrandizement of the final section of the book) it is so essentially, emphatically Morrissey, and in that respect I got exactly what I wanted.
 
I've only reached part 31.
It's a 4 from me so far.
I like the bits about TV and his family.
I don't really mind the style, only the contents, which I find uninteresting and devoid of meaning, when not downright petty.
Pretty much a waste of trees. Don't give up the day job, Mont-Blanc.

I wonder if the novel could be worse...
 
I gave it a "9" but if anything that could go higher upon re-reading it now that I am used to the writing style.
 
I'm giving it a 10, for much the same reasons Detritus has expressed. I got exactly what I wanted.

I can't look at it objectively, though. It's impossible. If it were the memoir of a person I had no more than a passing interest in, I don't know how I'd rate it. (Probably not a 10.)
 
I'm giving it a 10, for much the same reasons Detritus has expressed. I got exactly what I wanted.

I can't look at it objectively, though. It's impossible. If it were the memoir of a person I had no more than a passing interest in, I don't know how I'd rate it. (Probably not a 10.)

I was trying to do it objectively and still gave it a “9” hahah. If I’m not objective, it’s a “10” all the way. It’s honestly written exactly the way one would imagine him to write it anyhow. There was definitely not a ghostwriter, that’s for sure.

For me, I know on the first go-round (I read the U.S. version from the library, which I’ve since purchased in addition to the U.K. paperback) it took me a while to really grasp the writing style. It’s unlike any book I’ve ever read, really....at least as far as biographies go. I think the only thing that kept me from immediately giving it a “10” rating was the court case. I feel like there was a little too much devoted to it. I get WHY it’s there, but at points I felt like I was saying “Come on!” in my head.
 
pretty high. its so morrissey its like hes speaking right in front of me. anyone expecting something else should be questioned. i dont understand these people who expect and get mad when morrissey doesnt do the conventional. i dont know why they expect it or want it. conventionality is not why i enjoy morrisseys output
 
I should probably read it. It's hard...it flares up all my mind babies. :o I couldn't get past the part of him talking about watching a kids show about undersea adventures, I was losing my symbolic mind.
 
I should probably read it. It's hard...it flares up all my mind babies. :o I couldn't get past the part of him talking about watching a kids show about undersea adventures, I was losing my symbolic mind.

Medication might help with that.
 
I wrote this review somewhere else when it was first released. The UK version. 10 out of 10.

Lonely Are The Brave

I did not expect Morrissey's book to be as good as this.... Morrissey is a major artist....but obviously a flawed human being. That's important. Don't read this expecting a perfect artist or hero....they don't exist.

Morrissey's book is full of insight and humor from his perspective..... and if you like his art with the Smiths and solo and you like to read...you will probably like this. He tells of his childhood, adolescence and young adulthood and beyond to age fifty two. As he describes his life and influences he reveals himself..... and yet still retains some mystery. This is the best autobiography by an artist I've read. The reader really gets a feeling of the essence of the artist known as Morrissey. His awareness of mortality and "Death at One's Elbow" makes his art and this book timeless.....

His description of the trials and difficulties as well as successes of his recording career are interesting. I know this is his version, that's what I was looking for, his version of his career and life in general. It's also obvious that he loves his fans ...they give him strength and life...and he gives it back to them.

Forgotten Hollywood heroes like James Dean and Kirk Douglas, are brought into focus in his book. Morrissey's description and appreciation of Kirk Douglas in the roles of "Two Weeks in Another Town" and "Lonely are the Brave" are very personal to him. This really made a connection with me. I saw both of these movies when they were first released in '62. The theaters were just about empty for both of these pictures and it made me sad at the time because I thought they were so good and unusual........Morrissey was really affected by Douglas's performances and I find that very interesting because movies like these are not made anymore. They don't make 'em like Morrissey anymore either. The art and artists and life experiences that Morrissey describes have made him and his art very unusual and unique. When anyone, especially an artist, stands out from the crowd it can be a painful and lonely place.......but a place that's ultimately rewarding for the genuine individual and true artist like Morrissey. Painful or not he couldn't be any other way.....

This book is not just entertaining, it's enlightening and he makes you think about art, justice, fame, life and death......and he makes you laugh as well. My puny review doesn't do it justice... but I recommend it, especially if you are a fan.
 
I couldn't get past the part of him talking about watching a kids show about undersea adventures, I was losing my symbolic mind.

If anything apart from that flares up your mind babies, I'll offer you a voucher for dinner for two in the most romantic city of your choice AND a complimentary bottle of wine AND 28 sticks of Dentastix fresh(are these any good btw? do you know?)
If you think the pages about the court case or the tour diary can be considered as literature, I'll throw in Peter Hogg's briefs (used/ Kill Uncle Tour.) and a fruit basket.

There' s a guy who reads it on youtube in the dramatic way it was written and it's weird but it's more amusing than reading the shitty parts yourself, as he does different voices, and makes Morrissey sound like a depressed Kermit.
I think I've seen it on your shelf so I guess it's too late to tell you not to buy it. But when he's sick and weak, I bet even Morrissey realizes how crappy that book is. For realz.

Am I right or, am I right? :D
 
I think it's very very funny. Morrissey's waspish put downs are so damn on the money. If you don't like his sense of humour you would describe them as juvenile an d petty but if you 'get' Morrissey's humour then you'll love them.

It is unlike any autobiography I have read and yes in parts it's all over the place like a mad woman having a shit, but that is Morrissey for you. I like that it is bonkers. I gave it a 9 and only held out on a 10 because if I think it fails in one place it is lack of detail on how he writes the lyrics and how he collaborates when writing songs, particularly with Marr. He is incredibly open in many ways but he has also remained very secretive and vague when it comes to the artistic process. In fact he would rather give up details on his love life than talk about that which I guess only adds to the mystique.
 
the swans way of autobiographies. by the way "all over the place like a mad woman having a shit" was really nice so kudos on that line
 
its got a lot of good stuff in it, but I feel it could have been better with some parts re-written :straightface:

Can you elaborate? I ask this because I was recently roasted over some coals (really just a first degree burn) for suggesting that D.D. simply space his commas on his Ode to Moz.
 
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